UK’s biggest collaborative approach to recycling on-the-go arrives in Swansea, the second UK city to join the nationwide campaign backed by industry giants.
Following on from the success of the pioneering #LeedsByExample campaign which saw on-the-go recycling rates increase from 17% to 32% in just six months, brightly coloured bins and a huge art installation are now appearing in Swansea city centre.
This is all part of a new on-the-go recycling initiative part funded by Ecosurety and launched by environmental charity Hubbub in partnership with Swansea City Council.
Swansea #InTheLoop is a five-month pilot scheme with the aim of increasing levels of recycling of plastic packaging, cans, glass bottles and coffee cups across the city. As the second city to join the movement, Swansea will be joined by Edinburgh later this year.
Whilst Wales ranks second in the world for recycling at home, with figures showing that 63% of general waste collected by local authorities is reusable, recyclable or compostable, on-the-go recycling is still an area that can be improved. This is indicative of a wider problem with on-the-go recycling, with less than half of local authorities across the UK providing on-the-go recycling facilities.
A range of new measures to improve on-the-go recycling
Swansea #InTheLoop will see a range of measures designed to increase on-the-go recycling, including new look bins across the city centre and new recycling points in local offices, shopping centres, universities, hospitals and transport hubs. An art installation of a giant wave made of recycled plastics has also been created by South Wales eco-artist Wren Miller to raise awareness of the issue.
A central focus of the campaign will be to improve public access and awareness of coffee cup recycling. Cups can be recycled and a number of coffee shops in Swansea will now offer in-store recycling, regardless of the brand of cup people bring in. To help increase cup recycling rates, Swansea City Council will also introduce new bright orange bins in the city centre to collect coffee cups.
The UK's biggest collaborative approach
The #InTheLoop initiative – which is the UK’s biggest collaborative approach to boost recycling on-the-go – is being backed by Starbucks, Ecosurety, Asda, Bunzl, Caffè Nero, Coca-Cola GB, Costa Coffee, Danone - owners of the evian and Volvic brands, Highland Spring Group, Innocent Drinks, Lucozade Ribena Suntory, Marks & Spencer, McDonald’s, Nestlé, Pret a Manger and Shell.
The Swansea campaign is also being supported by local partners, who collaboratively have made the initiative possible. As well as Swansea City Council, these include the Environment Centre, Swansea University and Keep Wales Tidy – pioneers of the Love Wales recycling initiative.
James Piper, CEO of Ecosurety commented "We are absolutely thrilled to see that the legacy of #LeedsByExample extends far beyond the improvements made to that one city. The #InTheLoop movement that is kicking off in Swansea is testament to the power of collaboration by major producers and stakeholders."
"We look forward to seeing the results from every new city that joins #InTheLoop as each presents a unique set of challenges and objectives."
Take recycling a step further
Gavin Ellis, Co-founder and Director of Hubbub commented “We’re really excited to see our second on-the-go recycling initiative introduced in Swansea. The impact our pilot campaign had on the city of Leeds far surpassed our expectations and with Wales already having an impressive track record on recycling, we are looking forward to seeing if the people of Swansea can take things a step further."
"Through our eye-catching bins, to the businesses taking part in raising awareness among their employees and customers, we will give residents and visitors to Swansea a better opportunity to recycle while out and about.”
Cllr Mark Thomas, Cabinet Member for Environment & Infrastructure Management at Swansea Council commented “Recycling does not involve only recycling household waste in your own home. Clearly people consume items on the move while they are out and about."
"We already work with many local businesses in Swansea to provide commercial waste recycling services so businesses can recycle more in the workplace. Anything more that can be done to capture more waste for recycling and divert it away from landfill should be welcomed and taken advantage of.”
Philip McDonnell, Manager of the Environment Centre, Swansea commented “We see through our public engagement activities and environmental projects how keen people in Swansea are to do the right thing, so it’s great that Swansea #InTheLoop gives everyone the opportunity to recycle more when they’re out and about. We hope that residents and visitors alike will get involved, as the combined small actions of each individual can add up to create a big change.”
Get involved
If you would like to find out more about how you can support the #InTheLoop initiative, please contact our team.
Ben Luger
Marketing projects specialist
Ben joined the team at the beginning of 2015 and helps drive marketing communications and projects for Ecosurety, including project managing the launch of the Ecosurety Exploration Fund and website content development.
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